A Crow's Christmas
by whatifweareallfictional
Summary: This is a series of Christmas one-shots. Will include Inej, Kaz, Nina, Jesper, Wylan and possibly some other, minor characters.
1. 4:30 AM

**This is the first instalment in a series of Christmas one-shots I'm doing.**

 **I would like to thank** _ **SpellCleaver**_ **for this first prompt.**

 **I don't know how many one-shots will be in this by the end, but I will be stopping at the end of December.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own** _ **Six of Crows**_

 **Words: 1023**

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For what had to be the thousandth time that night, Inej leaned over Kaz's sleeping form to peer at the clock. They had gone to bed before ten o'clock in anticipation for an early Christmas morning, but Inej, no matter what she did, could not actually fall asleep. She felt like her body was buzzing with excitement.

She flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. After a few still moments, she glanced over at Kaz.

She knew that sleeping people were often described as looking younger, but Kaz didn't. He did seem more peaceful though. Like he wasn't carrying the weight of a thousand people. And, despite the fact that the thought would surely earn her a killing glare, she couldn't help thinking that he looked rather adorable. With the way his awful hair fell in his face, and his mouth was just slightly parted. And the slight moonlight coming in from the window that seemed to sooth his hard edges.

After another moment spent memorizing his relaxed look, she reached over to shake his shoulder. She was sick of the fact that he was peacefully sleeping, while she was lying there, unable to contain her excitement long enough to catch a wink.

When he shifted, she pulled her hand away. "Kaz." She whispered. "Kaz, wake up." She didn't want to be touching him when he woke up. He was getting better, able to hold her hand and even wrap his arms around her and occasionally he gave her the briefest kiss, and it wasn't so bad when he first woke up, but she didn't want to risk setting him off.

When he didn't respond, however, she shook his shoulder again. He groaned, and half-heartedly pushed her hand away.

"Kaz." she punctuated his name with a poke in the shoulder. "Wake up, Kaz."

Slowly, his eyes opened. "What?" the question was half groan, half semi-coherent mumbling. He turned over to look at the clock. Through a yawn, he said, "Why did you wake me up at 4:30 in the morning?"

"Well, first of all, it's actually 4:32. Secondly, I couldn't sleep." She blinked at him.

"And what does that have to do with me?" He reached up to rub his sleep filled eyes.

"That fact that it is, as a matter of fact, Christmas morning, and I couldn't wait any longer."

"First, you said 'fact' twice in that sentence, which makes you sound like a child," She scoffed. "And second, I don't give a damn if it's Christmas morning, or the anniversary of the day your great aunt Clara died, it is still 4:32, and I would like to sleep." With that, he rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.

She huffed.

Ten minutes later, when she was still awake, she said, "Kaz, I still can't sleep."

He groaned, but she felt him shift to face her.

"Why?"

"I'm too excited. I know you have some sort of aversion to pleasant emotions, but I really love Christmas."

He sighed. "Just try to sleep. And leave me alone. I like you and all, but I also like sleep." She just looked at him with eyes that told him it would be impossible.

He sighed again, but this time it was the sort of sigh that told her he would stay awake a little longer for her. "Why do you love Christmas so much?"

She had to admit, it wasn't the question she had been expecting, and she had to think about it. "I don't really know." Her voice was so quiet, she was half certain he would not be able to hear her. And when he did not respond, she thought he had not.

Then he said, "Did my ears deceive me, or did I just hear Inej Ghafa just admit to not knowing something?"

"Shut up."

He chuckled.

She thought about it again. "I guess I just like the atmosphere. People you don't know smiling at you in the streets. And not the typical sly, evil looking smile. A real smile. And there's decorations everywhere. Even in the Barrel." She paused. "Even you let the Crow Club be decorated."

He didn't say anything for a while. Then he leaned over and opened the small drawer in the bedside table. The small, black box he pulled out was tied with a simple gray ribbon. She didn't quite know what to do when he handed it to her. "Merry Christmas. Inej."

She stared at him. "You bought me something?"

"You thought I wouldn't?" His tone had an edge to it that she couldn't place.

"Well, you've never bought me anything before."

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Open, closed. Finally he settled on, "Actually I did. I just never implied that they were Christmas gifts." His brown eyes looked the colour melted chocolate, in the moonlight. He pointed to the gift. "Are you going to open it?"

Slowly, not entirely sure what to do with what he had just said, she opened the box. Inside sat a simple pair of rubber slippers. Nearly identical to the ones she'd lost in the Ice Court. She had been meaning to get a new pair, but had not found the time. She could not help the smile that spread across her face.

She looked up to find him watching her closely. "I- thank you. Wait. How did you get my feet size?"

He cleared his throat. "I tracked down the Grisha Tailor you went to last time. He still had them."

"Thank you, Kaz." He smiled. "Do you want your gift now too, or later?"

"Later is fine."

Then, without warning, he grabbed her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers. In the moment it took her to get over her shock, he had already pulled away. He looked her in the eye and said, with full authority, "Now, go. To. Sleep." He turned back over, and in a matter of moments, his breathing had evened out.

Inej smiled again, before setting her new slippers on the bedside table and settling down beside Kaz. Soon, she was finally asleep.

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 **Thank you for reading! Please leave a review! I do appreciate constructive criticism, so feel free.**


	2. Christmas Special

**Hey! I am** _ **so**_ **sorry it took me so long to write this. Normally it only takes me about two or three days to write something small like this, but I was sick all of last week, and then I had writer's block, and then** _ **nothing**_ **was coming out Christmas-y. So, I'm sorry. Anyway, I'll let you ge to the part of this you're actually here to read.**

 **Words: 671**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Six of Crows.**

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"I'm going to ask this one more time," Wylan said through a yawn. " _Why_ are we walking outside, at three in the morning, on Christmas Eve?"

"We're not," was Jesper's reply as he dragged Wylan along behind him.

"What do you mean we're not? We are very clearly walking outside! And don't pull that ' _it's actually 3:06'_ crap on me!" Wylan was tired, and cold, and very much wanted to be back in his warm, comfortable bed.

"It's not Christmas Eve. It's Christmas morning."

Wylan stopped walking. "I don't care if it's Christmas morning! I am tired, and cold, and I want to go back to bed!"

"Aww, is my wittle Merchwing sweepy?" Jesper cooed at him, nudging a finger in his face. Wylan was tempted to bite at it.

Instead, he made a noise that sounded like an angry lamb, even to his own ears. Jesper just laughed, pulling him along again.

Realizing a fight was futile, Wylan let himself be dragged through the wintry Ketterdam streets.

After what felt like several freezing hours, Jesper finally pulled him to a stop. "Here we are!"

As far as Wylan could tell, the only thing 'here' was a very old, very closed looking, squat building. "Okay," he said after a moment. "Can we go home now?"

Jesper turned appalled eyes on him. "No, we cannot go home! Do you seriously think I dragged you all the way out here just to stand outside the building?"

Wylan figured it was best if he didn't say what he was thinking.

Jesper grabbed his hand and dragged him into the building.

To say it was nicer inside, would have been an understatement to end all understatements. The room was filled with tall, round tables, each with several stools around it. A few small groups of people were seated at various tables, and a low murmur filled the air. The room was lit with candles, and decorated in every Christmas decoration Wylan could think of.

"What is this place?"

"This, Merchling, is the Menagerie Waffle House. It's part of a whole series of waffle houses named after the West Stave. Each waffle house is named for a different brothel, and has some sort of mocking tribute to its namesake. See?" He pointed to the far wall, where several of the Menagerie's masks hung. The only difference, was that these ones had waffles painted on them. "It's quite genius, really. And their waffles are _to die for_."

"Wow." It was all Wylan could think to say, as Jesper led them over to one of the tables.

A young lady came over for their orders. Jesper told her that they would have two Christmas Specials. Wylan was still processing the room around him. He had to admit, it was almost worth getting out of bed for.

"Merry Christmas, Wylan."

Begrudgingly, he said, "Merry Christmas, Jesper." Then another thought hit him. "Why did we come here in the middle of the night?"

"Technically it's early morning, Merchling, but who pays attention to the time of day anymore, right? And because they're only open at night. It has to do with the whole ' _not-a-brothel-but-named-for-a-brothel-so-we're-going-to-mock-them'_ thing."

"Oh. But why did we come here on Christmas?"

"Because their Christmas Special is amazing, duh. No, seriously. You will never be able to eat anywhere else on Christmas, for the rest of your life. It is _that_ good."

Jesper was right. Wylan would've eaten another whole plate if he weren't already so full. The waffles themselves were delicious. But piled with whipped cream, and crushed candy cane, and drizzled with chocolate? They were magnificent.

"So will you admit that this was worth it?" Jesper asked as they walked home, the sky just starting to lighten.

"No." Jesper's face fell. "I'm not going to _admit_ it. However, I will say that those were the best Christmas waffles I have ever had." Jesper's face lit back up. "Just don't _ever_ wake me up with a bucket of cold water _ever_ again, and we'll be fine."

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 **Feel free to leave a review! I do take prompts, so if you have an idea you want to see written, just put it in a review or PM me, and I will do my best. However, I will only be publishing Christmas stuff until the end of December.**

 **Merry Christmas! (Or Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Day, Happy whatever it is you do or don't celebrate, just have a good day then.)**


	3. Buying Gifts

**Hey! Thank you to those that reviewed, I really appreciate it.**

 **Word Count: 1640**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Six of Crows**

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Winters in Ketterdam were mild at best. At worst, the fog froze, covering everything in a sheet of ice. Thankfully, today was a milder day, with only a light falling of fluffy white snow, that melted the instant it hit the ground.

Kaz had been wandering the streets for what felt like hours. But it seemed that no matter how long he spent searching, he was never going to find the perfect gifts. He didn't even know why he was looking in the first place. He'd never bought any of them Christmas gifts before, so why did he suddenly feel like he should? It wasn't like they were expecting him to. In fact, _not_ getting them gifts was probably what they expected. And they certainly were not expecting him to find them _perfect_ gifts. So why was he so bent on finding them?

After several more minutes of meandering, he paused, trying to decide how else he could go about this. It shouldn't be that difficult. He was Kaz Brekker after all. He new how to bribe the unbribable, make the best men succumb to greed. What did each of his fri- these people want most? Jesper wanted luck in the markets. Wylan wanted respect from the other Merches. Nina wanted to end Grisha prejudice. Inej wanted to stop slavery. And none of those made good Christmas gifts.

Kaz groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair. _Perhaps I could change my haircut._ He mused. _Jesper might see that as a gift._ And now he knew he was really getting desperate.

He wandered into the nearest store, not at all sure what he was looking for.

A young man stepped out from behind a pile of boxes. "May I help you?"

"I'm fine." Kaz turned to survey the shelf nearest him. Stacked into neat little piles were bottles of ink, and on a shelf not to far away he spotted tubes of paint. Brushes, pencils, chalks, and all sorts of other things Kaz couldn't name, but knew were for artists.

"Actually, maybe I could use your help." Kaz would have preferred to do it himself, but he had to admit he knew nothing about anything here. Except maybe the ink.

"Well, what are you looking for?" the young man asked, coming up beside him.

"I'm looking for a Christmas gift for someone I know is really good drawing. The only problem is, I don't know what he already has."

"Well, the thing about artists, is that they always need more supplies, so really, you can't go wrong." He led Kaz over to a shelf lined with packages of pencils. "You said he was good at drawing?" Kaz nodded. The man grabbed a set that had a lot of different coloured pencils in it. "This particular one comes with regular pencils, charcoal pencils, coloured pencils, and several drawing tools. This way, you're bound to give him something he either needs, or doesn't already have."

It wasn't a bad idea. And he knew Wylan would like it. And it didn't cost a ridiculous amount. And it crossed one name off the list. "It'll do."

After leaving the store, Kaz began wandering again. He thought back to the few gifts he'd received in his life. Boots, little wooden toys, books, socks. Jordie had gotten him a pocket knife once. But none of those were in any way suitable.

What did they need? Jesper needed a new, less lime-green wardrobe. Nina needed waffles. He needed waffles. Yes, he definitely needed some waffles.

After eating a plate full of waffles that were probably way too sweet, Kaz decided that he would compile a list of things they would each like.

He pulled a piece of paper and a pencil from his pocket. Yes, he did always keep one with him and no, no one knew about it.

Jesper

Gun polish

Ammunition

A jacket that wasn't green or yellow

A hat

Weird socks (apparently those were a thing now)

Belt that wasn't a horrible colour

New gun belt

When Kaz couldn't think of anything else, he looked over the list. The hat didn't sound too bad, but neither did the gun belt. Jesper already had several hats, and Kaz wasn't sure if he would want another. However, Jesper's current gun belt had been getting rather worn.

After several minutes of searching, he found the perfect one. It was a soft black leather, and Jesper's precious pistols would look good with it. It also had a hideous green buckle. There had been another one with a black buckle, but he had figured that Jesper would like the green one better. Despite that fact that it looked stupid.

Kaz was about to start a list for Nina, when he heard a street vendor calling out something about boots. Moving to get a closer look, Kaz noted that they were the sort of boots he often saw on Nina. They weren't as tall as her usual pairs, and they looked a lot warmer, but they seemed to be something she would like.

It was strange, really, how he'd spent over an hour searching and hadn't found a thing, and then suddenly he found one thing, and everything else just seemed to fall into place.

He bought a pair of the boots, guessing at Nina's size, when he heard a familiar voice call out from behind him.

"Saints! Do my eyes deceive me or is _Kaz Brekker_ actually buying something with his own money?!" He turned to find Inej standing behind him, eyes shining, hair braided down her back and a steaming mug in her hands. He felt his breath catch, ever so slightly, but he covered it with an eyeroll.

"What do you want?"

"An end to slavery, world peace, the elimination of evil." she stopped when he rolled his eyes again. "Oh, is that not what you were asking?" Her voice was sweet and innocent, but the look in her eyes said otherwise.

They began to walk down the street.

"What's in the bags?" she asked.

"Gifts."

She gasped. " _Kaz Brekker_ actually bought someone a _gift?_!"

"Will you stop?"

"Will you tell me what you bought?"

He sighed, and she laughed. And he knew he would gladly give his soul to the devil to hear it again. Though she did seem to be laughing more and more lately. Which made him unreasonably happy.

They walked in silence for a few moments. Kaz kept glancing over at her, trying to determine if there was anything she needed. She didn't like hats. All of her knife sheaths were in good shape. She wasn't much of a fancy clothes person. She had good sturdy boots. And it wasn't as though she needed another knife. In fact, her parents would probably kill him if they found out he'd bought her another.

"So, who haven't you bought anything for yet?" Her question sliced through his thoughts.

"You, actually." He paused, debating whether or not to ask. He _did_ need an idea. "Since you're here I might as well ask, what do you want?"

She frowned. "I don't really know. I mean, Nina and I are just getting each other sweets, so I guess there's that." She was quiet, thinking.

They continued walking, Inej as silent as ever, and Kaz content to let her be. She'd speak when she was ready. Kaz's mind wandered, landing briefly on the pile of work he'd certainly have on his desk when he got back.

They passed an art shop selling famous paintings, several of which were De'Kapples. **(A/N: I think I spelled that right? Sorry if I didn't.)** Kaz thought back to the first time he and Inej had stolen one. He expected to remember how intently Inej had examined the painting, but instead, he remembered what she had said in the house's parlor. She had paused by the small table by the door, and when he had asked what she was doing, she had pointed to a small puzzle book and said, "I used to have one of these. We were passing through a small village and when I saw it, I gathered up all of my money and bought it. I remember having so much fun solving all problems." He had told her to hurry up and stop dwelling in the past, but some part of him must have tucked the small piece of information away. He also remembered how she had seemed distracted the rest of the evening.

"I think I'd like a new book. I haven't had the chance to do much reading lately, and I'd like to do that again." He felt her gaze shift to him, and he looked at her. She had a small smile on her face, and he wanted to reach out and touch it. But he couldn't. He couldn't just reach out like that. _Why not?_ Some part of him asked. He tries to push the idea away, but he could still see what it would look like to do it.

"Is that enough to go on, or do you need more ideas?" He used her voice to drag him back to reality.

"Yeah, that should do." he said, remembering to respond. He actually already knew what he was going to get her, but he didn't tell her that.

"Alright." She glanced at her watch. "I'm supposed to be meeting Nina five minutes ago, so I should get going." She smiled up at him, and he felt something in his chest twist. She turned to leave, only glancing back once, before she disappeared.

He went into several stores, before he finally settled on a book with three different kinds of puzzles in it.

With that, he had presents for each of his frien- for each of those people he was supposed to spend Christmas with.

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 **Please leave a review! And once again, I do take prompts, so you can either PM me, or you can leave it in a review. However, I will not be posting anything to this story after December 31st, so I can't take endless amounts of prompts and then write them all.**

 **Thank you!**


	4. Christmas Tears

**Hey! I just wanted to thank** _ **SpellCleaver**_ **for the last prompt, because I totally forgot to thank you last time.**

 **I would also like to thank** _ **E. pokalypto**_ **for this prompt. I hope it's what you were hoping for.**

 **Word Count: 498**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Six of Crows**

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Nina shifted under her warm bed covers, slowly regaining consciousness. She stared at the ceiling, almost like she expected it to hold the secret of how to turn day into night. When it didn't reveal anything, she rolled over to look at the clock. She was staying at Wylan and Jesper's for the Christmas season. The room they had given her was nice; comfortable and despite its immense size, cozy.

She had been surprised to find that she was glad to be back. So many bad things had happened in the Ketterdam streets, but a lot of good things too. And she had missed her friends. Even Kaz. Well, it was more that she missed seeing Inej tell Kaz he was being a donkey's rear end. And Kaz being so totally in love with her but denying it up, down and straight to hell. And Jesper making Wylan blush as red as a blood orange. Yeah, she missed them. And she was glad to be there for the first Christmas they'd all be spending together.

Except, it wouldn't be all of them. Nina felt a fresh wave of grief wash over her, drowning her with its inescapable undertow. Her heart felt like it had been buried under a large pile of even larger rocks.

She slipped from her bed and searched the floor for her jacket. The light coming in the window was dim, dawn barely on its way. Finally, she found her jacket. She pulled a piece of paper from the inside pocket.

Wylan had given it to her the last time she'd visited. It was a perfect rendering of Matthias, right down to the way he did his hair, and wore his weapons. She always kept it close to her, for fear of losing it. It was the only physical thing she had to remember him by.

It was then, as she traced her fingers over the contours of the drawing, that she realized this would have been their first Christmas together. Of course, they'd known each other last Christmas, but Matthias had been in Hellgate, and they did _not_ make it easy to celebrate Christmas with someone who was in there.

She would have liked to have spent Christmas with him. She would have convinced him to drink hot chocolate, and eat Christmas waffles. They would have snuggled on the couch, and given each other presents. She felt tears burn at the back of her eyes, blurring her vision and threatening to spill over.

She refused to let them. She had done her mourning, and now she was going to change things. She would make it so that no more Grisha were murdered for things they couldn't explain, and so that no more Fjerdans died for something they had always been told. And she would do it all in Matthias' name.

But first, she had to push away her tears, go downstairs, act normal and get through this magical time of the year, without him.

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 **Thank you! Please leave a review!**


	5. Christmas Tree

**I was tempted to hold this one back until tomorrow, but I thought I'd give it to you today since it was done.**

 **Word Count: 513**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Six of Crows**

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"How mad do think he'll be if we pull this off?" Nina asked as she and Inej wandered through the rows of pine trees.

Inej had been enjoying a good book and a cup of hot chocolate when Nina had burst into the attic. She had then proceeded to drag Inej out of her blanket cocoon and outside into the cold winter air. She hadn't explained where they were going, or what they were doing, just that it was "important." And now, ten minutes later, Inej found herself wandering through neat rows of pine trees, looking for the "perfect" one for Kaz's attic. And no, he did not know they were doing this.

"I don't know if he'll be _mad_ , per say, but he definitely won't be happy." Inej leaned up on her tiptoes, trying to see the top of a tree. " Or at least, he won't tell us he's happy, he'll just tell us to move it. And then when we refuse, he'll claim he's too lazy to do it himself. Of course, that will only happen if he doesn't murder us first."

Nina a hummed a reply, then asked, "What do you think of this one?" she was standing next to a smaller tree with needles that almost looked like they were blue. She reached out to give it a shake. At least a pound of needles plummeted to the ground. "Okay, maybe not that one. Unless, of course, you think he'd like his hardwood floor to turn into a pine needle carpet." She continued meandering, and Inej followed after her.

She caught sight of a smaller one, with needles that were so dark, they appeared black. "What about this?" she called up.

Nina turned back towards her. "It's a little dark. I mean, I get that this is for _Kaz_ and all, but I think his room could use little less, I don't know," she waved her hands over her head, "brood."

Inej laughed. "I'm not sure that's the correct use of the word, Nina."

"Oh, it's not, it is? Well I used it that way, so it must be usable in the apparently "wrong" way I used it." she huffed.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of smiling and laughter. When they neared the middle of the pines, Inej found one that Nina deemed the "perfect tree." It was small enough to fit in the attic and it had these beautiful needles that were dark, but bright at the same time.

"It's absolutely perfect." Nina hadn't stopped repeating the words since she'd seen it. "Kaz is going to love it."

Inej snorted. "No, he's going to hate it."

They paid (with Kaz's money), and loaded the tree onto a trolley. They were about halfway to the Slat when Inej asked, "Nina, how are we going to get it up there?"

She stopped walking so suddenly the trolley banged into the back of her legs. "I probably should have considered that before buying it, huh?"

Inej sighed, before pulling Nina along behind her. "Yeah, maybe you should have."

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 **Thank you! Please leave a review, I really appreciate the feedback!**


	6. Mistletoe

**Thank you to** _ **SpellCleaver**_ **and** _ **E. pokalypto**_ **for reviewing! Also, thank you to** _ **SpellCleaver**_ **for this prompt.**

 **Words: 565**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Six of Crows**

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"Do you two not know the meaning of "get a room?"" Kaz's rough voice drew Jesper back to the present. He had found Wylan in the kitchen decorating christmas cookies. He had had such an adorable look of concentration on his face that Jesper had not been able to keep himself from kissing it away. And now, as he slowly drew back from Wylan's cherry red face, he found Kaz leaning against the doorway, eyebrows raised, lips twisted into a smile/scowl only Kaz could produce.

"Do you not know the meaning of "leaving two people who are making out alone?"" Jesper said, fully aware that it was a horrible comeback.

"First, the was a horrible comeback Jes, and second, you are in a _public_ space. If you want to be left alone, go get a room." He leaned forward slightly as he said the last words, as though he really wanted to emphasize them.

"Kaz?" Jesper heard Inej call from the hallway behind Kaz. "Did you find them?" Jesper realized that Kaz and Inej must have been looking for him and Wylan.

When Kaz turned his back to say to her, "Yeah, they're in here," Jesper grabbed a piece of mistletoe off the counter, snagged a piece of tape, and stuck it in the doorway over Kaz's head. Kaz must have felt his presence, because he turned back very quickly.

"What did you just do?"

At that moment, Inej came to stand beside Kaz. Directly under the mistletoe that somehow they both seemed oblivious to.

"Jesper, what did you do?" Kaz's voice had taken on a dangerous tone. One that said Jesper was dead if he didn't say anything. And possibly if he did say something.

He glanced back a Wylan, who was looking at him wide eyed. Like he feared for Jesper's life.

Jesper looked Kaz in the eye. "You know, it's dangerous to stand in doorways at Christmas time, Kaz. You never know where there might be mistletoe hanging."

Kaz sighed. "I'm not going to fall for that Jes, I know there isn't." But Inej was already glancing up.

"Um, Kaz?" she said. He looked up. Jesper could have sworn a look of shock passed over Kaz's face before he went back to glaring at Jesper.

"You are so dead."

"Ah, but not until you two kiss. Those are the rules after all." The glaring only intensified. But after a moment, Jesper saw him glance at Inej. He also saw that Inej noticed that glance. "You have to kiss."

Jesper couldn't help feeling a little shocked when Kaz said, "Fine. But you are dead."

He couldn't help the giddy feeling that jittered in his stomach as Kaz turned towards Inej.

They looked at each other for a long moment, before Inej subtly tilted her face toward Kaz's. After a moment of hesitation, Kaz leaned down and just barely touched his lips to hers. Jesper saw Inej tense, and Kaz shudder. Then Inej leaned up and properly pressed their lips together. The contrast between their skin tones made them look like a piece of art.

Jesper turned to lead Wylan out of the room, but he looked back once to see Inej pull off one of Kaz's gloves and him placing his ungloved fingertips to her waist. He felt a rush of happiness run through him, and he couldn't help but think, _finally._

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 **Merry Christmas! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought. I like to hear people's opinions on my writing. It tells me what to improve. Thank you!**


	7. Boxing Day

**Happy (belated) Boxing Day! to those of you who do not know what boxing day is, it is a day off of work. I'm not sure exactly why its a day off, all I know is that it is.**

 **Words: 449**

 **Disclaimer: No, I do not own Six of Crows.**

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"What are you doing?" Wylan had come down stairs looking for a missing ledger when he found Jesper in the living room, surrounded by boxes.

Jesper looked up from where he had been placing a stack of books into one of the boxes "I, Merchling, am doing what one is supposed to do on Boxing Day."

Wylan felt more confused than he had felt all day. All week, actually. "And that is?"

Jesper gave him an incredulous look. "I'm putting everything in boxes." There was an unspoken 'duh' in his voice.

Wylan just stared at him. He wasn't sure if Jesper was joking, or if he actually believed that you were supposed to put everything in boxes on boxing day. But after a moment, he let the laughter erupt from his chest and spill out into the air. Before long, he was on his knees, gasping for breath and trying earnestly to reign in his laughter.

When he looked up, he found Jesper standing over him, a massive smile curling across his face. He took the hand Jesper offered and was pulled back to his feet. "You don't actually think that's what you're supposed to do, right?"

The tall boy laughed, and Wylan felt his heart swell. "No, I don't."

"Then why were you putting everything in boxes?"

Jesper reached out and tugged the smaller boy close, before leaning down and saying, "You've been up there working all day and boxing day is supposed to be a day away from work. Not a day where you work more than usual. So, I stole your ledger and started doing this." He pulled his arm from around Wylan and gestured to the room. "I knew it would make you pause and that I could then convince you to stop. So, how does stopping sound?"

Wylan buried his face in Jesper's chest to hide his blush. Then he thought of all the work he'd left upstairs. "Jesper, if I don't do this now I'll get behind."

Jesper framed his hands around Wylan's face, his long fingers idly tracing lines down it. "No, you won't. None of that work actually needs to get done today. That's the point of a holliday. Besides, isn't there some sort of saying that goes, 'why do today, what you can put off until tomorrow?'"

Wylan laughed. "I'm pretty sure that's not how it goes, but I see your point."

Jesper's hands lowered to his shoulders, his fingers continuing their gentle stroking. His eyes had lit up with excitement. "Does that mean you'll stop working for today?"

Wylan pressed his face into Jesper's shoulder. "I guess."

Jesper's answering hoot could have been heard all the way in Fjerda.

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